Explanation: Budget Cuts

Explanation: Budget Cuts

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to reduce funding for NASA by 0.3% (compared to FY2017 levels). Among other things, the budget would eliminate funding for the international space station from 2025, cancel a project to upgrade communications satellites, and terminate five earth sciences research missions.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to cut EPA funding by 33.7% (compared to FY2017 levels), and eliminate a number of the agency’s research and education programs, including the Climate Change Research and Partnership Program and the Environmental Education Program.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to cut USDA funding by 16.4% (compared to FY2017 levels). Under the budget, funding for a number of USDA research programs, including statistical research programs administered by the Economic Research Service, would be reduced or eliminated.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes cuts to a number of National Science Foundation (NSF) programs, including a 56% reduction in the NSF account that supports the construction of research platforms and the acquisition of scientific instruments.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to cut funding for DOE by 3.4% (compared to FY2017 levels). Funding for DOE’s innovation arm, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), would be eliminated and funding for its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy cut in half.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to maintain funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at FY2017 levels, despite imposing additional responsibilities on the NIH, including establishing three new sub-institutes to take over functions currently performed by other HHS offices.

The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget proposes to reduce funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by 20% compared to FY2017 levels. Among other things, the budget would eliminate $273 million in funding for NOAA grant programs, including the National Sea Grant College Program and National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

DOI’s Office of Surface Mining directed the National Academy of Sciences to stop work on a study of potential health effects from mountaintop removal coal mining. DOI had previously committed $1 million for the study, but is now reconsidering its funding decision.

The Trump administration’s proposed FY2018 budget included $347 million in funding for climate and environmental research at DOD. This represents less than 1% of the amount requested by DOD and would result in cuts to several research programs.

The Trump administration’s FY2018 budget proposed a 10% cut funding in for NSF climate and environmental research programs. This is expected to lead to 800 fewer awards to universities and other institution in 2018 compared to 2017.

Budget cuts resulted in NOAA rescinding four of the eight offers made to researchers to participate in the 2017 Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. As a result, fewer researchers participated in the 2017 program than in any other year since it was launched.

DOE cancelled an ongoing project researching how tropical forests will respond to climate change. The study, which involved over 130 scientists, was launched in 2015 and due to continue until 2025, but will shut down 7 years early (in 2018).